This invention relates to rubber articles which are receptive to disperse dyes and to the procedure for preparing such dye receptive rubber articles.
Rubber products such as rubber threads are generally not receptive to dyes and coloring of these products is usually carried out by the incorporation of pigments into the rubber composition. However, such a coloring procedure is frequently not economically feasible. For example, when rubber threads are incorporated into textile products, large inventories of rubber goods must be maintained in order to match the many colors that such textile goods are dyed. As a result, the rubber threads are generally used in an undyed or white state and remain white throughout the normal dyeing procedures. When such goods are stretched, the rubber frequently becomes exposed causing "grin through" or exposure of the white rubber threads.
The above problem can be overcome by making the rubber dye receptive. This must be accomplished without deteriorating the physical properties of the rubber. Thus, for instance, rubber can be made dye receptive by the addition of liquid dye carriers. However, the addition of such compounds makes the rubber sticky and otherwise diminishes the properties of the rubber.